Friction is a Drag!

Friction is a drag – UNLESS you are trying to change direction..

In my business coaching sessions I often find myself actually trying to add something business owners have been frantically trying to remove from their business and their daily routine. FRICTION!

You see, anyone (not just a business owner) that is looking to change their direction or speed might need to actually apply some kind of friction in order to make that change.

Without it change can be tough, you could potentially sail on by that turn/junction that you wanted to make. As you can see, I relate it to being like a car on the road. Look at how many of these examples stack up.

Without friction

If you are going too fast, you can’t slow down.

If you want to take a new direction you can’t turn.

If you are presented with a hazard or challenge you can’t avoid it.

If you want to speed up, you will simply spin and maintain pace.

If you see an new opportunity you really can’t take advantage of it.

One of the things I coach with my clients is the recognition, acceptance and importance of friction. We might actually need it for all the above reasons, so it really is important to embrace it or indeed, you may need to create it.

Often the reason why people aren’t changing direction, speeding up or slowing down (as appropriate) is because that required friction is missing. Creating a little bit of friction into our lives and our businesses at the appropriate time can have a major impact on the ability to achieve the much needed or desired change.

Warning! Be careful to apply your friction at the right, in the right way and for all the right reasons. Procrastination, indecision, self doubt, pigheadedness, are all ways to create friction in the wrong away and do nothing beneficial to serve us, it simply slooooows us down.

On the Flip-side – It’s an interesting thought, because there are often as many reasons to try and remove friction as there to create it. I also coach the importance of making the customer experience as slippery and friction free as possible. The relationship between business and supplier, and the business with its employees is as equally important to be friction-less. In fact there are many reasons to work at removing friction.

Think of friction as a lever that you can move up or down depending on your desired outcome. If you want more of something, maintain pace or make something easy remove the friction. If you want less of something, speed up, slow down or change direction apply a little bit of friction.

So, there you have it, friction doesn’t have to be a drag, but just sometimes it is vital that it is.